The Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was theculmination of a decade of deteriorating relations between Japan and the UnitedStates over the status of China and the security of Southeast Asia. Thisbreakdown began in 1931 when Japanese army extremists, in defiance ofgovernment policy, invaded and overran the northern-most Chinese province ofManchuria. Japan ignored American protests, and in the summer of 1937 launcheda full-scale attack on the rest of China. Although alarmed by this action,neither the United States nor any other nation with interests in the Far Eastwas willing to use military force to halt Japanese expansion.

Over the next three years, warbroke out in Europe and in 1940 Japan joined Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy inthe Axis Alliance. The United States applied both diplomatic and economicpressures to try to resolve the Sino-Japanese conflict. The Japanese governmentviewed these measures, especially a complete US embargo on all shipments of oil(July 1941), as threats to their national security. By the summer of 1941, bothcountries had taken positions from which they could not retreat without aserious loss of national prestige. Although both governments continued tonegotiate their differences, Japan had already decided on war. The attack onPearl Harbor was part of a grand strategy of conquest in the western Pacific.The objective was to immobilize the Pacific Fleet so that the United Statescould not interfere with invasion plans. The principal architect of the attackwas Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese CombinedFleet. Though personally opposed to war with America, Yamamoto knew thatJapan's only hope of success in such a war was to achieve quick and decisivevictory. If there were a prolonged conflict, America's superior economic andindustrial power would likely tip the scales in her favor.

On November 26, the Japanese attackfleet of 33 warships and auxiliary craft, including 6 aircraft carriers, sailedfrom northern Japan for the Hawaiian Islands. It followed a route that took itfar to the north of the normal shipping lanes. By early morning, December 7,1941, the ships had reached their launch position, 230 miles north of Oahu. At6 a.m., the first wave of fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes took off. Thenight before, some 10 miles outside the entrance to Pearl Harbor, five midgetsubmarines carrying two crewmen and two torpedoes each were launched fromlarger "mother" subs. Their mission: enter Pearl Harbor before the airstrike, remain submerged until the attack got underway, then cause as muchdamage as possible.

Meanwhile at Pearl Harbor, the 130vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay calm and serene. Seven of the fleet'snine battleships were tied up along "Battleship Row" on the southeastshore of Ford Island. Naval aircraft were lined up, wing tip to wing tip, atFord Island and Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Stations, and Marine aircraft at EwaMarine Corps Air Station. At Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows airfields, aircraftof the U.S. Army Air Corps were parked in groups as defense against possiblesaboteurs.

At 6:40 a.m., the crew of thedestroyer USS Ward spotted the conningtower of one of the midget subs headed for the entrance to Pearl Harbor. TheWard sank the sub with depth charges and gunfire, then radioed the informationto headquarters. Before 7 a.m. the radar station at Opana Point picked up asignal indicating a large flight of planes approaching from the north. Thesewere thought to be either aircraft flying in from the carrier Enterprise or an anticipated flight of B-17s from the mainland,so no action was taken.

The first wave of Japanese aircraftarrived over their target areas shortly before 7:55 a.m. Their leader,Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, sent the coded messages "To, To, To" first syllable fo the word Totsugekiwhich means ìChargeî. The he sent the signal "Tora, Tora, Tora," meaningìTiger Tiger Tigerî telling the fleet that the attack had begun andthat surprise had been achieved.

At approximately 8:10, the USS Arizona exploded, hit by a 1,760-pound armor-piercing shellthat slammed through her deck and ignited her forward ammunition magazine. Inless than nine minutes, she sank with 1,177 of her crew. The USS Oklahoma, hit by several torpedoes, rolled over, trappingmore than 400 men inside. The USS California and USS West Virginia sank at their moorings, while the USS Utah, converted to a training ship, capsized with morethan 50 of her crew. The USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, andUSS Tennessee all sufferedsignificant damage. The USS Nevadaattempted to run out to sea but took several hits and had to be run aground toavoid sinking and blocking the harbor entrance.

While the attack on Pearl Harborintensified, other military installations on Oahu were hit. Hickam, Wheeler,and Bellows airfields, Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay Naval AirStation, and Schofield Barracks suffered varying degrees of damage, withhundreds of planes destroyed on the ground and hundreds of men killed orwounded.

After about five minutes, Americananti-aircraft fire began to register hits, although many of the shells that hadbeen improperly fused fell on Honolulu, where residents assumed them to beJapanese bombs. After a lull, at 8:40 a.m. the second wave of attacking planesfocused on continuing the destruction inside the harbor, destroying the USS Shaw, Sotoyomo,a dry dock, and heavily damaging the Nevada, forcing her aground. The Japanese also attackedHickam and Kaneohe airfields, causing heavy loss of life and reducing Americanability to retaliate.

Army Air Corps pilots managed totake off in a few fighters and may have shot down 12 enemy planes. At 10 a.m.the second wave of attacking planes withdrew to the north, and the assault wasover. The Japanese lost 29 planes and five midget submarines, one of which wascaptured when it ran aground off Bellows Field.

The attack was a great, but nottotal, success. Although the U.S. Pacific Fleet was shattered, its aircraftcarriers (not in port at the time of the attack) were still afloat and PearlHarbor was surprisingly intact. The shipyards, fuel storage areas, andsubmarine base suffered no more than slight damage. More importantly, theAmerican people, previously divided over the issue of U.S. involvement in WorldWar II, rallied together with a total commitment to victory over Japan and herAxis partners.

December 7, 1941 losses

Personnel Killed	United States	Japan
Navy	1998	64
Marine Corps	109
Army	233
Civilian	48

Personnel Wounded
Navy	710	Unknown
Marine Corps	69
Army	364
Civilian	35

Ships
Sunk or beached *	12	5
Damaged	9

Aircraft
Destroyed	164	29
Damaged	159	74

All U.S. ships, except the USS Arizona, the USS Utah, and the USS Oklahoma, were salvaged and later saw action. Figures are subject to change according to new evidence.

Reading was adapted from theNational Park Service visitor's guide for the USS Arizona Memorial

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